best camera and lens' for Equine photography?

[chloewindle1]

I've currently got a Nikon D5100 and nikkor 70-300mm lens. I'm looking for an upgrade and thought about getting the Nikon D3S but many people have said its overrated. I don't want to swap to a canon as I've already got a few lens' for Nikon and generally prefer the Nikon camera's.
Thanks

 

[Derrel]

Yeah, the D3s is overrated. It's heavy, rugged, focuses fast and surely, even in poor light, and has incredible performance at insane ISO levels. It's got fast-handling, sound ergonomics, a super AF-ON and AE-Lock button system, and almost infinite customizability options. It's a flagship-level Nikon body designed for almost any "action" type event. If you were to go to a D3s body, then you'd have to put up with all the aforementioned 'issues'. Plus awful stuff like a big, bright, 100% viewfinder with an incredibly crisp finder image, convenient white balance on dedicated buttons on the back of the camera, and third-generation pro-Nikon body controls and ergonomics. Plus...it also has world-class shutter response time, and a pretty fast firing rate, and dual CF card storage slots.

All kidding aside...the D3-series Nikon cameras are incredibly nice cameras in terms of HOW they shoot. And they also have one overriding feature: they shoot FAST. When you see a shot, you press the shutter button, and the camera fires very quickly. It's a lot like moving up from an old 4-cylinder econo-box car to a luxury performance model...it's a whole 'nother level of "ride"...

The D3 series also have that doggone voice-annotation recording button and microphone/speaker on the back of the camera...shoot a shot and then press the button and record up to a 60-second .WAV file that is automatically numbered to go with the file that's displayed on the rear LCD...which is a GODSEND when doing events and needing to keep track of who and what is in the image files! I use the voice annotation feature VERY often.

 

[chloewindle1]

fab, i've been stuck between the D3 and D3s and need a camera that will get the sharp, crisp images. Would you recommend the D3 more than the D3s??

 

[The_Traveler]

fab, i've been stuck between the D3 and D3s and need a camera that will get the sharp, crisp images.

If you aren't getting sharp crisp images with your current setup, you need to look closer at your technique.
Virtually any modern dslr will produce good images (and the 70-300 is a fine lens)

 

[gsgary]

2003 Canon 10D + 70-200F4

2001 Canon 1D + 300mmF2.8L

Any camera will work, nothing wrong with the camera you have

 

[chloewindle1]

my d5100 is fab i just want to upgrade now

 

[gsgary]

my d5100 is fab i just want to upgrade now

I only have one thing to say, LENSES

 

[Derrel]

fab, i've been stuck between the D3 and D3s and need a camera that will get the sharp, crisp images.

If you aren't getting sharp crisp images with your current setup, you need to look closer at your technique.
Virtually any modern dslr will produce good images (and the 70-300 is a fine lens)

The difference between a $5,000 flagship Nikon and a $600 entry-level Nikon is pretty significant. That's why the professionals at Sports Illustrated shoot $5,000, flagship-level, full-frame, professional cameras, not cheap beginner Nikons and Canon Rebels. That's why the local newspaper part-time pros in my podunk small town shoot D3s and Canon 1D bodies...

The D3 is an okay camera, and in smaller USA markets at WALK-IN retail, D3 bodies are down to $1700 or so...I am not talking about on-line prices at KEH.com or B&H Photo, I mean in real, small- and mid-sized cities across the USA, a D3 is a $1700 body...

The D3s has a newer, better sensor.

The idea that a D5100 is the equal to a D3 or D3s when shooting sports or equine action is mis-informed. It is MUCH easier to shoot with a full-frame professional level Nikon than it is a beginner-level crop-body that has a slow mirror, a weak AF system, and a crappy, tiny,low magnification pentamirror finder. I've owned the D1, D1h, D2x, and D3x Nikons, as well as several lower-spec Canon Nikon and Fuji d-slr cameras; there is a very simple reason the D3 and D3s exist. Either one is streets ahead of the D5100. The main advantage is that the D3s has a noticeably better sensor at elevated ISO levels. The pixels are HUGE, and the per-pixel image quality of the D3s is excellent.

Being able to SEE the shot, and then hit the release and GET the shot, in-focus, is one of the main pluses of the professional-grade Nikon bodies. A D3 is a nice body. A D3s is the same body mostly, but with a better sensor. Buy whatever you can afford. Either is miles ahead of the D5100 in almost every,single metric that really matters in action sports. Of course, the photographer does have to have at least SOME basics checked off, but the body really does do most of the "shooting". It is the focuser, it is the shutter, it is the "film advance", it is the buffer, it is the "film"...the camera these days is much,much more than just a light-tight box. The user needs to point the camera in the right direction. Can you point the camera well enough to make use of the D3 or D3s? only one way to find out I suppose.

 

[gsgary]

fab, i've been stuck between the D3 and D3s and need a camera that will get the sharp, crisp images.

If you aren't getting sharp crisp images with your current setup, you need to look closer at your technique.
Virtually any modern dslr will produce good images (and the 70-300 is a fine lens)

The difference between a $5,000 flagship Nikon and a $600 entry-level Nikon is pretty significant. That's why the professionals at Sports Illustrated shoot $5,000, flagship-level, full-frame, professional cameras, not cheap beginner Nikons and Canon Rebels. That's why the local newspaper part-time pros in my podunk small town shoot D3s and Canon 1D bodies...

The D3 is an okay camera, and in smaller USA markets at WALK-IN retail, D3 bodies are down to $1700 or so...I am not talking about on-line prices at KEH.com or B&H Photo, I mean in real, small- and mid-sized cities across the USA, a D3 is a $1700 body...

The D3s has a newer, better sensor.

The idea that a D5100 is the equal to a D3 or D3s when shooting sports or equine action is mis-informed. It is MUCH easier to shoot with a full-frame professional level Nikon than it is a beginner-level crop-body that has a slow mirror, a weak AF system, and a crappy, tiny,low magnification pentamirror finder. I've owned the D1, D1h, D2x, and D3x Nikons, as well as several lower-spec Canon Nikon and Fuji d-slr cameras; there is a very simple reason the D3 and D3s exist. Either one is streets ahead of the D5100. The main advantage is that the D3s has a noticeably better sensor at elevated ISO levels. The pixels are HUGE, and the per-pixel image quality of the D3s is excellent.

Being able to SEE the shot, and then hit the release and GET the shot, in-focus, is one of the main pluses of the professional-grade Nikon bodies. A D3 is a nice body. A D3s is the same body mostly, but with a better sensor. Buy whatever you can afford. Either is miles ahead of the D5100 in almost every,single metric that really matters in action sports. Of course, the photographer does have to have at least SOME basics checked off, but the body really does do most of the "shooting". It is the focuser, it is the shutter, it is the "film advance", it is the buffer, it is the "film"...the camera these days is much,much more than just a light-tight box. The user needs to point the camera in the right direction. Can you point the camera well enough to make use of the D3 or D3s? only one way to find out I suppose.

But she does not have good lenses

 

[Derrel]

As to the 70-300 being a "fine lens"...uhhhh, yes, and a huge "NO". The Nikkor 70-300 f/4.5~5.6 VR has a nasty habit of ceasing autofocus during daylight hours....it just "STOPS" and needs to be "nudged" back into operation, fairly often. I have noticed that many times shooting my kid's daylight soccer games, as well as during casual portrait shooting; Sm4him on TPF has reported this behavior as well; the same behavior is noted in the Ken Rockwell review of the 70-300 VR.

I'm not sure why the 70-300 VR just STOPS FOCUSING so frequently, but it is characteristic of the model. It is also very slow...it's an f/5.6 lens over much of its zoom range...meaning autofocus is right on the edge of ceasing to function on all the lower-end Nikon bodies. So, something to keep in mind; the f/4.5 to f/5.6 max aperture range taxes the lower-end cameras the most. It's a decent lens, and for the money it's good, but the AF stoppage thing makes it a dicey lens to rely upon.

The 70-300 VR is not a "good lens" for action on a low-spec camera. I use it on the D3x, and during a typical youth soccer match, it will just STOP focusing 10,15 times per event...my 70-200/2.8 will focus until the moon comes up...her lens is SLOW....it's basically f/5.6...f/5.6is the MINIMUM aperture for AF operation on a D5100...the bare minimum...

 

[chloewindle1]

Here are a few examples. *please take note, these were taken a few months ago and aren't the highest quality as they are just saved off from facebook* View attachment 56777View attachment 56778 all photos were taken with D5100 and 70-300. Saving for the 70-200 once upgraded.

 

[gsgary]

Buy the lens first you might not want to upgrade yet

 

[Derrel]

The 70-300mm is an f/5.3 lens at 200mm. It's only f/5.6 at 300mm. Shutter speeds are going to be dangerously slow unless you jack the ISO values up under anything except really GOOD lighting conditions. One of the main reasons the D3 and D3s cameras were made as 12MP cameras, and the D4 was made as a 16 MP camera, was to create cameras that had superior imager performance at elevated ISO levels.

If you want sharp, clear photos you need to do a number of things right. You can literally "buy" image quality. You can buy a fast, wide-aperture lens, like Gary's 300mm f/2.8; or you can buy a $2,400 70-200mm f/2.8 pro-grade zoom; or you can buy a used $1700 pro-grade body that will shoot at higher ISO values with slower more consumer-oriented lenses.

The choice now is where to put one's money? The "best" of the newer high-ISO cameras make an f/5.6 lens into what used to be an "f/1.4 lens", in a manner of speaking. Similarly, $5,000 spent on a 200 f/2 VR_Nikkor will make your D5100 into one heck of a better low-light imager. It's just easier to shoot well with a high-grade camera.